OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 217 
THE WONDER WORKER OF KILLERBY 
85. The fashioning of the stocks that carried on the rich 
improvements of the Shorthorn breed wrought by the Colling’s 
fell largely into the hands of THomas Bates (74) and the Booru 
family (76). While both believed in the fundamental excel- 
lence of the Favorite-Hubback blood, there were vital differ- 
ences in the way the pedigrees were handled, and the Bootus 
had recourse to the Colling foundation only through the males, 
depending on the stock of the surrounding country for the 
females. Beginning with the elder BooTH in 1790, the family 
was intimately interested in the development of better Short- 
horns for a period of nearly ninety years, each generation 
stamping its individuality on the herd. The work of THomas 
Bootu Sr. was carried on separately by his two sons, RICHARD 
at Studley and later at the paternal estate of Warlaby, and JoHN 
at Killerby. Joun Bootu’s showyard successes were tremen- 
dous and his sale of stock throughout the thirties and forties 
so prodigious that he almost never could meet his demands. 
When Joun Boorn laid aside his mantle of achievement, he 
left to his son, THomas C. Bootu, perhaps one of the most 
dificult tasks a young breeder has ever faced. The Bates blood 
was in its ascendancy, and while showyard and tenant farmer 
in Britain had accorded the highest recognition to the practical 
qualities of the Bootu cattle, the “fashionableness” of the 
Duchesses and their corresponding sale values were undeniable. 
Furthermore the great days of his uncle RicHarpD had arrived 
and he had scant hope for recognition in the face of the really 
notable achievements of the Warlaby herds. With spirit of the 
true soldier, however, he buckled to his task, and as he received 
some assistance in the way of show animals from his UNCLE 
RicHarp following his father’s dispersion sale of 1852, he early 
gained a nucleus on which to build. On his father’s death in 
1857, he became the dominant figure in the Killerby herd. 
